Top 10 Agricultural Products in Nigeria and Their Uses (2026)
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Updated 28 September 2026 · Wigmore Trading, Lagos
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Ten major agricultural products in Nigeria and their uses: cassava (garri, fufu, starch, ethanol), yam (food, yam flour), maize (food, poultry feed, starch), rice (food), sorghum (food, malt for drinks), cocoa (chocolate, cocoa butter), oil palm (palm oil, palm kernel oil, soap), groundnut (oil, groundnut cake), soybean (oil, feed, soy milk) and sesame (oil, confectionery, export). Nigeria is the world’s largest producer of cassava and yam. In Q2 2026 its most valuable farm exports were cashew nuts, cocoa beans and sesame seeds.
Contents: Top 10 products and uses · List of 20 agricultural products · Raw materials and finished products · What Nigeria exports · How to trade or export them · FAQ
Top 10 agricultural products in Nigeria and their uses
We ranked these by how much Nigeria grows and how much they matter to food, industry and trade. Production figures are the latest official or FAO-based numbers we could verify. Where a figure is a forecast, we say so.
1. Cassava
Nigeria is the world’s biggest cassava grower. It produced about 62.7 million tonnes in 2023, according to FAO data. Most of it is eaten at home as garri, fufu, lafun and tapioca. Industry uses cassava for starch (textiles, paper, pharmaceuticals), high-quality cassava flour for bread and biscuits, glucose syrup and ethanol. The peels go into livestock feed.
2. Yam
Nigeria grew about 61.9 million tonnes of yam in 2023 (FAO). By value it was the country’s most valuable crop that year. In February 2026 the Federal Ministry of Agriculture put annual output at 67.2 million tonnes, or about two-thirds of global production. Uses: boiled, fried or pounded yam, yam flour (elubo, for amala) and export to diaspora markets in Europe and North America. Officials say post-harvest losses are around 40%. That is why good storage matters so much for yam traders.
3. Maize (corn)
USDA’s Lagos office estimated Nigeria’s maize crop at 11 million tonnes in 2024/25 and forecast 12 million tonnes for 2025/26. Maize feeds people (pap/ogi, roasted and boiled corn, tuwo) and livestock. It is the main energy ingredient in poultry feed, which is why maize prices drive the price of chicken feed. Industry turns it into starch, glucose, corn flakes and brewing grits.
4. Rice
Nigeria is one of Africa’s largest rice producers. USDA estimated milled output at 5.2 million tonnes in 2024/25 (8.3 million tonnes of paddy). It forecast a dip to about 5 million tonnes milled in 2025/26, with imports still covering the gap. Rice is eaten as jollof, fried rice and tuwo shinkafa. The by-products are useful too: rice bran goes into feed and rice husk into fuel and particle board.
5. Sorghum (guinea corn)
USDA forecast 7.3 million tonnes of sorghum for 2025/26. It is a staple across the north (tuwo, fura, kunu, pito). Breweries also use it as malt in place of imported barley, and it goes into animal feed.
6. Oil palm
Nigeria produces about 1.5 million tonnes of palm oil a year (USDA). That makes it Africa’s largest producer, yet it still imports palm oil. The crop gives red palm oil for cooking, palm kernel oil for soap and cosmetics, palm kernel cake for feed, and palm wine. It also supplies vegetable oil for margarine and noodles.
7. Cocoa
The International Cocoa Organization (ICCO) put Nigeria’s 2024/25 cocoa crop at about 350,000 tonnes in its February 2025 bulletin. Cocoa beans, cocoa butter, cocoa powder and cocoa liquor are among Nigeria’s top agricultural exports. The end uses are chocolate, beverages (cocoa drinks), confectionery and cosmetics.
8. Groundnut (peanut)
FAO data show about 4.3 million tonnes of groundnuts in 2023. Groundnut gives cooking oil, groundnut cake (kuli-kuli) for snacks and animal feed, peanut butter and roasted nuts.
9. Soybean
Soybean is used for soybean oil, soybean meal (the main protein source in poultry and fish feed), soy milk, tofu (awara) and baby foods. Soya beans and soya meal were among Nigeria’s top 10 agricultural exports in Q2 2026.
10. Sesame (beniseed)
Sesame is grown mainly in the north-central and north. It is one of Nigeria’s biggest non-oil export earners: sesame seed exports were worth ₦96.03 billion in Q2 2026 (NBS data via Nairametrics). Buyers use it for sesame oil, tahini, bakery toppings and confectionery. Export value depends heavily on cleaning and purity. Our guide to sesame seed cleaning and export explains why.
| Product | Latest output we could verify | Main uses |
|---|---|---|
| Cassava | 62.7m t (2023, FAO) | Garri, fufu, starch, flour, ethanol, feed |
| Yam | 61.9m t (2023, FAO) | Food, yam flour, export |
| Maize | 12m t (2025/26 forecast, USDA) | Food, poultry feed, starch, brewing |
| Sorghum | 7.3m t (2025/26 forecast, USDA) | Food, malt, feed |
| Rice (milled) | 5.0m t (2025/26 forecast, USDA) | Food; bran for feed |
| Groundnut | 4.3m t (2023, FAO) | Oil, groundnut cake, snacks |
| Palm oil | 1.5m t (USDA) | Cooking oil, soap, margarine |
| Cocoa | 350,000 t (2024/25, ICCO forecast) | Chocolate, cocoa butter, powder |
| Soybean | Top-10 export in Q2 2026 | Oil, feed meal, soy milk |
| Sesame | ₦96bn exported, Q2 2026 | Oil, tahini, confectionery |
Sources: FAO 2023 data (via Intelpoint), USDA FAS Grain and Feed Annual (March 2025) and IPAD, ICCO Quarterly Bulletin (Feb 2025), NBS Q2 2026 trade data (via Nairametrics). The years differ because each body publishes on its own schedule.
List of 20 agricultural products and their uses
If you need a longer list (a common school and business question), here are ten more, each with its main use:
- Cashew – roasted nuts, cashew butter; the shell liquid (CNSL) is used in paints and brake linings. It was Nigeria’s biggest agricultural export by value in Q2 2026.
- Cowpea (beans) – moi-moi, akara, ewa agoyin; the haulms feed livestock. FAO put output at about 4.3 million tonnes in 2023.
- Millet – fura, kunu, pap; a drought-tolerant food crop in the far north.
- Ginger – spice, ginger tea and drinks, oleoresin; dried split ginger is exported.
- Hibiscus (zobo) – zobo drink, herbal teas, natural food colouring; widely exported.
- Shea – shea butter for cosmetics and cooking; crude shea oil is exported.
- Plantain – dodo, plantain chips, plantain flour.
- Rubber – latex and crumb rubber for tyres, footwear and gloves.
- Gum arabic – a stabiliser in soft drinks, sweets and pharmaceuticals.
- Livestock and hides (cattle, goats, poultry) – meat, milk, eggs; hides and skins go to leather.
Cotton, tomatoes, onions, pepper, coffee, kola nut, cocoyam, sweet potato, cattle horns and fish are other important Nigerian farm products. The best choice depends on whether you are studying, farming, trading locally or exporting.
10 agricultural raw materials and their finished products
This is a common exam and business question. The link between the raw material and the finished product is where most of the value is added in Nigeria.
| Raw material | Finished products | Industry |
|---|---|---|
| Cassava | Garri, starch, glucose, ethanol, flour | Food, textiles, pharma, drinks |
| Cocoa beans | Chocolate, cocoa powder, cocoa butter | Confectionery, beverages, cosmetics |
| Oil palm fruit | Palm oil, soap, margarine, palm kernel cake | Food, detergents, feed |
| Maize | Corn flakes, custard, starch, poultry feed | Food, feed milling |
| Sorghum | Malt, beer, malt drinks | Brewing |
| Groundnut | Groundnut oil, peanut butter, kuli-kuli | Food, feed |
| Soybean | Vegetable oil, soy meal, soy milk | Food, feed |
| Cotton | Yarn, textiles, cottonseed oil | Textiles, food |
| Rubber latex | Tyres, gloves, footwear | Manufacturing |
| Hides and skins | Leather, bags, shoes | Leather goods |
What Nigeria actually exports (2026 data)
What Nigeria grows most (cassava, yam, maize) is mostly eaten at home. Export earnings come from a different group of crops. NBS trade data for Q2 2026 (April–June) show these ten agricultural exports earned a combined ₦747.54 billion:
| # | Product | Export value, Q2 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cashew nuts in shell | ₦268.62bn |
| 2 | Standard quality cocoa beans | ₦154.31bn |
| 3 | Sesame seeds | ₦96.03bn |
| 4 | Superior quality cocoa beans | ₦58.82bn |
| 5 | Soya beans (excl. seed) | ₦50.22bn |
| 6 | Soya bean flours and meals | ₦36.41bn |
| 7 | Other cut flowers and flower buds | ₦31.43bn |
| 8 | Natural cocoa butter | ₦27.60bn |
| 9 | Crude shea oil | ₦12.66bn |
| 10 | Soya bean seed | ₦11.44bn |
Source: National Bureau of Statistics foreign trade data, as reported by Nairametrics and PM News (September 2026).
Export earnings swing a lot. Total agricultural exports fell to ₦1.98 trillion in H1 2026, from ₦2.96 trillion in H1 2025. With imports at ₦2.03 trillion, the farm trade balance went into a small deficit. Nigeria also imported ₦68 billion of palm oil in Q2 2026, even though it is Africa’s largest producer. The lesson for traders: quality, processing and timing matter as much as volume.
Buying or exporting Nigerian produce?
Wigmore Trading sources and trades cocoa, cashew, sesame, ginger, hibiscus, shea and other commodities from Lagos. Before you commit, check what export will cost with our free calculator.
How to trade or export Nigerian agricultural products
If you want to move from knowing the list to making money from it, here is a practical checklist:
- Pick a product with a clear buyer. Local staples (garri, yam, rice) sell on volume and speed. Export crops (sesame, cashew, cocoa, ginger, hibiscus) sell on grade and documentation.
- Know the grade your buyer wants. This means moisture, purity, admixture and aflatoxin limits. Get the spec in writing before you buy from farmers.
- Cost the whole journey. Include farm-gate price, aggregation, cleaning and bagging, haulage to Lagos or Onne, inspection, phytosanitary certificate, fumigation and freight. Our export costs calculator covers statutory charges for 30+ Nigerian commodities: NESS levy at 0.5% of FOB, 0% export duty on non-oil goods, and zero-rated VAT. It also flags restricted or prohibited items.
- Plan the load. Use the container load calculator to see how many bags fit in a 20ft or 40ft container.
- Use verified suppliers. Our guide to finding reliable farm produce suppliers in Nigeria covers what to check.
- Protect against scams. Never pay a “supplier” you have not verified, and inspect stock before release. Wigmore’s official channels are listed on our safety page.
International buyers can read our specific sourcing guides, such as how to buy cashew nuts from Nigeria.
Frequently asked questions
List 10 agricultural products and their uses.
Cassava (garri, starch), yam (food, yam flour), maize (food, animal feed), rice (food), sorghum (food, malt), cocoa (chocolate, cocoa butter), oil palm (palm oil, soap), groundnut (oil, groundnut cake), soybean (oil, feed, soy milk) and sesame (oil, confectionery).
What are 10 examples of agricultural products?
Crops such as cassava, yam, maize, rice, cocoa, cashew, sesame and ginger, and livestock products such as eggs and meat. Agricultural products include anything produced by farming: crops, livestock, fish and forest products like rubber and gum arabic.
What is the most produced agricultural product in Nigeria?
By tonnage, cassava: about 62.7 million tonnes in 2023, the most of any country in the world. Yam is very close (about 61.9 million tonnes in 2023 by FAO data), and by value it was Nigeria’s most valuable crop that year.
What is Nigeria’s biggest agricultural export?
In Q2 2026 it was cashew nuts in shell (₦268.62 billion), ahead of cocoa beans and sesame seeds, according to NBS data. Cocoa has often led in other periods, so the ranking changes with world prices and harvests.
What are agricultural raw materials used for?
They feed factories. Cassava becomes starch and ethanol, cocoa becomes chocolate, sorghum becomes malt for beer, soybean becomes oil and feed, cotton becomes textiles, and rubber becomes tyres. See the raw materials table above for ten examples.
Which agricultural product is most profitable to export from Nigeria?
No single crop always wins. Margins depend on world prices, grade and costs. Cashew, cocoa and sesame currently bring in the most export revenue. Ginger, hibiscus and shea are smaller but established. Cost your route with the export calculator before you buy stock.
Related guides
- How much is chicken feed in Nigeria? 2026 prices by brand
- List of provision items to stock in a Nigerian shop
- Fast-moving items to sell in Ghana
- Sesame seed cleaning and export in Nigeria
Sources: FAO 2023 production data via Intelpoint; World Population Review (FAOSTAT cassava ranking); BusinessDay (Feb 2026); USDA FAS Nigeria Grain and Feed Annual (Mar 2025); USDA IPAD palm oil; ICCO Quarterly Bulletin (Feb 2025); Nairametrics (Sep 2026); Nairametrics H1 2026 agric trade (Sep 2026); Sahara Reporters (NBS palm oil imports) (Sep 2026). Figures are the latest we could verify and are revised by their publishers from time to time.
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